Hundreds of amici file 24 briefs with U.S. Supreme Court to support public services, and a strong middle class in Friedrichs v. CTA
States, governors, cities, school districts, civil rights organizations, academic experts and others warn of threat case poses to working families, public services
WASHINGTON - November 17, 2015 -
Hundreds of amici—representing all levels of government, public officials, civil rights organizations, academic experts, and others—have filed 24 briefs amici curiae with the U.S. Supreme Court in the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case. The briefs, like the one filed by more than 70 national civil rights organizations, urge the Court to uphold the fair share fees that support strong collective bargaining, rather than “undermine” the strong bargaining relationships that have provided “a critical path to the middle class for generations of working people.” The Court first upheld such fees in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education in 1977, and has repeatedly reaffirmed the validity of such fees unanimously, including in an opinion just six years ago.
“The number and vast range of groups who have spoken up by filing amici briefs with the Court illustrate how important this case is and what’s at stake for America’s working families,” said Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association “States as different as Alaska and New York, with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, see how this case harms not just public workers but also the communities who depend on the services they provide.”
Earlier this month, NEA joined with the California Teachers Association and a number of unions to file the union respondents’ brief, which laid out why the fair share rule first adopted in Abood remains sound and should be reaffirmed. The state of California also filed in support of Abood, explaining that it relies on fair share fees to effectively manage its substantial public workforce and ensure the efficient delivery of quality public services.
This past Friday, hundreds of amici weighed in with dozens of briefs. Twenty-one states, dozens of cities, nearly 50 Republican lawmakers, school district and public hospitals rose in support of the value fair share fees provide in terms of the effective management of public services.
States including Alaska, Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia, joined by the District of Columbia, as well as Montana Governor Steve Bullock, who filed his own brief, have all weighed in to voice their common view that Abood rightly recognized “that States have a significant and valid interest in being able to employ the models of collective bargaining that have proved successful for achieving labor peace and avoiding labor strikes,” and for improving the efficiency and quality of public services. Thousands of contracts that include such fees cover millions of public employees.
Almost 50 Republican state officials have filed to urge that the Court reaffirm Abood and leave “the complicated calculus involved in determining how to structure public sector labor relations,” to the state and local leaders “best positioned” to decide such matters. As the brief of the U.S. government points out, the petitioners’ request that the Court constitutionalize public-sector labor relations decisions long made by states in accordance with their local circumstances “would astonish the founding generation and would stamp out the state-by-state variation in public employment structures that has been the hallmark of this Court’s First Amendment jurisprudence for decades.”
Several of the amici explained the benefits that states have reaped in choosing collective bargaining supported by fair share fees. New York City filed a separate brief explaining why fair share fees have been essential to securing labor peace and the uninterrupted delivery of public services on which its millions of residents depend. School districts secure more effective collective bargaining relationships with unions that have “the stability to make difficult agreements that may be unpopular but are in the long-term interests of employees, students and the entire community.” Other municipalities gain “significant efficiency benefits…by working with the stable union partners that agency-fee arrangements make possible.” And public hospital systems that serve millions have benefitted from the strong labor management partnerships that fees make possible, which have served to substantially improve the health care they provide.
Leading experts from across the country have also filed in the case, explaining that the Court should decline petitioners’ invitation to cast Abood aside based on politics, rather than principles, and should continue to allow states to decide for themselves how best to manage their workforces in order to provide critical government services like public schools. And leading national economists have filed to explain that the free-rider phenomena, which fair share fees are necessary to counter, is real and significantly decrease union effectiveness if left unchecked.
NEA and CTA have joined other unions and organizations in a broad-based coalition, America Works Together, to raise public awareness and to ensure the public and Supreme Court know that current law established by Abood has formed the foundation for people to work together for more responsive public services—such as better outcomes in the classroom for our kids, quicker response times in emergencies, and better staffing for hospitals..
“This case will do nothing to help our students,” said CTA President Eric C. Heins. “What this case is really about is making it harder for working people to stand together and fight for our students, our schools and our future.”
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Keep up with the conversation at #WorkTogether
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About NEA
The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional organization, representing nearly 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers. Learn more at www.nea.org.
About CTA
The California Teachers Association represents more than 325,000 teachers, counselors, librarians, psychologists, nurses, community college and CSU faculty, and education support professionals. CTA is the state-level NEA affiliate in California. Find out more at www.cta.org.
CONTACT: Staci Maiers, NEA Communications (202) 270-5333 cell, smaiers@nea.org
Claudia Briggs, CTA Communications (916) 296-4087 cell, cbriggs@cta.org
brief: union respondents
BRIEF: attorney general of CALIFORNIA
amici cureia
- Brief of National Women's Law Center, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and 70 Additional Organizations Committed to Civil Rights and Economic Opportunity as Amici Curiea in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of the American Federation of Labor and Congress and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of School Districts as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of American Federation of Teachers and American Association of University Professors as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief in Support of Cities, Counties, and Elected Officials as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana, as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief for the City of New York as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of the New York City Municipal Labor Committee as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief for the State of New York, Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachussetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, and the District of Columbia as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of the International Association of Fire Fighters as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of the National Fraternal Order of Police, as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of 21 Past Presidents of the D.C. Bar as Amici Curiae Supporting Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of Republican Current and Former Members of State Legislatures and Congress as Amici Curiae in Support of Respndents (PDF)
- Brief of Constitutional Law Scholars as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of Professors Cynthia L. Estlund, Samuel Estreicher, Julius G. Getman, William B. Gould IV, Michael C. Harper, Stewart J, Schwab and Theodore J. St. Antoine, as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of Labor Law & Labor Relations Professors in Support of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief for the Unites States as Amicus Curiae Supporting Respondents (PDF)
- Brief Amici Curiae of Los Angeles County's Department of Health Services, NYC Health + Hospitals, and Service Employees International Union Supporting Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of Amici Curiae National Council on Teacher Retirement and the National Conference on Public Employee Reitrement Systems in Support of Responents (PDF)
- Brief for Amici Curiae Peace Officers Research Association of California, Peace Officers Research Association of California Legal Defense Fund, National Association of Police Organizations, and Nine Statewide or Local-Level Public Safety Unions, in Support of Respndents (PDF)
- Brief of Amici Social Scientists in Supoort of Respondents (PDF)
- Brief of Corporate Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents (PDF)